Of Icebergs And Death
by Happytohelp
Summary: Katara has been musing on the future. How often is that a good thing? One-shot. T for safety.


_I don't own Avatar!_

_I noticed I haven't said that yet, so hopefully I don't get my butt sued!_

_Another one-shot. Yep. Thanks for any reads, and enjoy!_

* * *

Aang was up early, as usual. He had always felt comfortable waking up before the others, when the day was quiet and the air was still and it felt like he had all the time in the world. Wherever they went in the world, be it the Fire Nation, the Water Tribes, or an Air Temple, Aang found that the morning was his favourite time of day. Although, four years after the end of the war, and with his relationship with Katara growing each day, night-time was pushing a strong case for that position. They hadn't gone all the way yet, but they weren't exactly shy anymore.

Until that fateful day came, though, morning would hold a special place in his heart. Morning made everything okay. Morning meant a fresh start. Even there, on Kyoshi Island, Aang was always amongst the first up, with a few Kyoshi warriors beating him to the beach for training each day

This time, however, Aang didn't go to the beach. Something compelled him to go into the woods. He couldn't explain it, but he felt as though it were very important that he do so. Yes, definitely, very important. He wandered aimlessly in the woods until he found a small stream. It was particularly tranquil, and he decided, on a whim, to follow it. Water had always had a calming effect on him. Ever since he met _her_. Air was undoubtedly his favourite, but water was a close second.

He walked down the length of the stream until he came to a small clearing. It was draped in shadow, due to the Sun's low angle, and it was suddenly very cold. Aang shivered, and wrapped his arms around his chest. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him.

"Of course!" he said, bringing his palm to his forehead, "I'm a firebender."

As he finished his sentence, he heard a familiar cry and a large splash very near his position. He looked around for the source of the disturbance, and he saw none other than Katara. She was sat, soaking wet, with her knees up to her chest. He could hear her breathing from where he was standing, and suddenly a whole host of memories came flooding back to him. Memories of the previous night.

_Aang had come home, after a particularly tough training session with Toph. He had pretty much mastered all the forms she had taught him, and consequently she was quickly running out of things to teach him. Owing to this lack of didactic inspiration, her most recent lessons involved throwing him around for about an hour or so, before insulting him a few times and concluding the day's "lesson". Aang had asked her many times to teach him metalbending, but she was weirdly resistant to the idea._

_After his training session with Toph, Aang had sought out Katara. He had quite a few bruises, and of course he wanted to spend time with her. He would go to her; she would worry about him and his injuries. She would offer him a healing session, and he would gladly accept and, if they were lucky, they could have a little "fun" before Sokka got home. The perfect plan. He had it all worked out. _

_He was approaching the door to the house with a wide grin on his face, when Katara stormed out of the door, stomped furiously up to him, and gave him a terrific slap across the face. The combination of surprise and sheer force sent him sailing to the ground, and he landed unceremoniously at her feet. He shook his head in disbelief, and he slowly picked himself up and dusted himself off._

"_What was that for?" he asked, more afraid than anything._

"_You mean you don't know!?" she replied, her voice a near shout._

"_Umm…" he wracked his mind, desperately searching for _something_ that he might have done. He would have preferred it if he _could_ think of something, but he just couldn't. He had been the perfect boyfriend throughout their entire stay on Kyoshi._

"_No," he answered succinctly._

"_Well, then," she fired sardonically, "if you really can't see what the matter is then I guess I'll have to tell you, huh?"_

"_I guess…?"_

"_You're going to die Aang! That's what's wrong!" she shouted. As upset as she was, Aang couldn't help but see it as some sort of joke. He had figured that death was inevitable, and he told her as much._

"_Well… uh… duh."_

"_This isn't a joke, Aang. You're gonna die and you're gonna die soon!"_

_Did she know something he didn't? He choked on that startling revelation for a few seconds before answering._

"_When?" he managed, hoarsely._

_At that seemingly innocent inquiry, she flung her arms in the air and stomped off again. _

"_Hey, Katara, wait!" he called after her._

"_I'm going to find Sokka!" she crowed back. It wasn't until Aang was safely in bed a few hours later that he realised that she had been going _the wrong way. _At that, he made a mental note to find her in the morning and sort out whatever it was that had Katara in such distress._

There she sat, by the tiny lake, her head hanging low. His head was once again flooded with confusion. Katara was a mass of riddles and contradictions, and Aang liked to think that he had done a pretty good job of untangling them. But every once in a while she did something like this, and it appeared as though all Aang's previous attempts at understanding her were for naught.

He tentatively approached where she was sitting, and he could tell from her body language that she didn't want him around. But Aang knew that that was exactly when she needed him to be around the most. That much he _had_ learned.

"Katara?"

"Hey, Aang," came her terse reply.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine." Another short but sweet response. Sweet because it was given in her voice. Short because she was annoyed with something.

"How long have you been out here?" he quizzed her, a hint of worry creeping into his voice.

"It was a beautiful sunrise…" she told him, suddenly blushing a deep red.

Aang gasped theatrically, faking shock. His humour fell on deaf ears. That was a common occurrence in situations like these. He sat in pensive silence, agonizing over what to say to start the conversation, frantically thinking of how to make her feel better.

"I'm sorry," he said, almost whispering.

Her head shot up from her knees, and her eyes were wide with panic.

"Sorry for what?!" she balked.

"Last night…" he began, suddenly very unsure of himself. "You were angry with me, and whatever I did, I'm sorry."

"Oh no…" she groaned. He could practically feel the self-deprecation rolling from her.

"That was my fault, Aang. I wasn't angry, I was scared and sad, and I lashed out at you and I'm really sorry…" she trailed off.

"Well," he said with a smirk on his face, "that's a relief. I thought I was in trouble, or that maybe I had amnesia or something."

Aang was flooded with relief when she laughed at his joke. The smile was on her face for only a few seconds, though, before her brow creased thoughtfully.

"What were you scared of?" he prodded.

"Losing you," she told him simply.

"What do you mean, Katara? We both know my job is dangerous. It has been from the beginning. I've accepted that. I thought you had, too."

"Don't patronise me, Aang," the ire in her voice apparent, "I know all that. I don't like it, but I deal with it. That's not the problem."

"Then what _is_ the problem? I can't help you if you don't talk to me."

"I don't think you'll be able to help even if I _do_ talk to you, Aang."

"Come on, Katara, you're not giving me much of chance here…" he pleaded.

Her sigh of acquiesce was low and slow.

"I know I'm not being fair to you, Aang," she said, leaning into the wall of his chest, and feeling infinitely better when she felt his arms encircle him. She could hear his beating heart next to her ear. That heart that was so full of life. She could have listened to it forever, but her problem was that she didn't _have_ forever. Neither of them did.

"I've been thinking about the future."

"O… kay," he drawled, "You're gonna have to be a bit more specific, Katara."

"Well, you remember how we found you in that iceberg?" He nodded.

"You were in the Avatar State that whole time, weren't you?" Again, he nodded.

"I've been thinking about how that might affect your life span," she said, her voice breaking on the last syllable before she pulled herself together again.

"One hundred years, encased in ice, with the energy of a thousand lives coursing through your 12-year-old body is bound to do a number on anyone…" he admitted, "but Avatars live to be really old. Kyoshi lived to be 230 years old," he hastened to add, reassuringly.

"You've said, but I can't help but worry that I'm going to outlive you, Aang." She let the first tear escape then.

"I'm going to lose you, and there's nothing I can do about it!" she was shouting again, and Aang marvelled at how quickly her walls had come down. Her tears were flowing freely then.

"Oh, Katara, no…" he whispered, as he kissed the top of her head.

"I know I shouldn't even be thinking about it," she sobbed, panic-stricken, "but when I lost my mom it was the worst thing that ever happened to me, and it's going to happen all over again. I want to be with you forever, Aang, but I won't be."

He just sat there, holding her. He often worried about his inevitable death, though he had never thought _that_ far ahead. The Avatar Spirit had sustained his body for 100 years, but who could possibly know what kind of effect that could have on a person's life?

He held onto her until her sobs finally stopped shaking her, and she instead simply breathed heavily in his arms, her deep breaths warming his chest.

"Katara," he breathed, into her ear, "one day, long in the future, one of us will have to live without the other. You know that, right?" she nodded against him.

"But that day won't be for many, many years. I promise you, Katara, we'll have long, happy, full lives together. We can't worry about the future like this, we need to focus on _now_, and how happy we are _now_. How happy we'll be together."

"Death is inevitable, but you've got to remember, separation and death are just illusions," he smiled fondly at the memory.

"Even if I _do_ leave you first, I'll be waiting for you in the next world. I'll wait forever if I have to."

She sat up then, her rate of breathing finally back at acceptable levels. She once again felt the all-too-familiar butterflies in her stomach when she saw the smile that was plastered across his face. She _loved_ seeing him smile.

"I'd wait forever too," she said, a bittersweet smile playing across her mouth.


End file.
